In this post I am sharing an excerpt from an article written by E. J. Waggoner, a man inspired by Jehovah to bring a "most precious message" to His "little flock." Sadly, the message was rejected by the "masters in Israel," and it has not been taught among God's people since. The following is part of that message. I have been saying, in previous posts, that The Law of God is a person, namely, Jesus Christ. Consider the following from Brother Waggoner, then consider the answers to the questions I present at the end of the post, each in relation to the numbered bold text.
Letter and Spirit
E. J. Waggoner
"UNLIKE HUMAN LAW
The common opinion in regard to the letter and the spirit of the law, is most erroneous. The error arises from supposing that the law of God is similar to human laws. It is quite common to speak of the spirit of a law made by man, when all that is meant is the intent of the law. Thus: No human law is perfect; its framers can not possibly foresee all the circumstances that may arise to be judged by it. Then, too, the language of the law may be obscure. So the judge often finds it necessary to decide what was the intent of the lawmakers. A man might be technically or literally a violator of a law, while still acting fully in harmony with the intent of its framers. This is what is meant by the mistaken use of the term "letter and spirit," as applied to human laws.
Now the great difference between the nature of human laws and the divine law is that there is no spirit to the former, while the latter is wholly spiritual. Spirit is life; but there is no life in human laws. They can not give life. No man can get anything more out of a human law than he puts into it. If men ignore any human law, then it is said to be "a dead letter." But it has no more life in itself when it is obeyed than when it is disregarded; the life is in the people, who make their acts conform to the words of the law.
The law of God is wholly different. It is alive (1) whether people regard it or not. It is alive because it is spiritual. The man who serves in "the oldness of the letter" does not really serve at all, because, no matter how good his purpose, or how strong his endeavors, to keep the law, he is simply reproducing himself, and not the law. In trying to do what the law tells him to do, he is merely doing what his own nature allows him to do. While in a carnal state, he is "not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." Rom. 8:7.
"THE LAW IS LIFE"
But "the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus" (2)(Rom. 8:2) gives freedom from this bondage, so that "the righteousness of the law may be fulfilled in us." The real law is the life of God in Christ, and that gives life (3). What is termed "the letter" of the law of God is the verbal statement of the law. This is not the law itself, but only the form of it, as the apostle said the Jews had "the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law." Rom. 2:20. The verbal statement of the law bears the same relation to the law itself that the photograph of a man has to the man himself. It is but the shadow. A shadow is the exact image of the substance. The words of the divine law, being "the form of knowledge and of the truth," might be compared to a statue, rather than to a photograph. It has the form and features, and differs from the reality only in having no life. So when we speak of the spirit of God's law, we mean the law itself, and not merely the intent of the law. The intent of the law may be learned from the words, since God is not subject to human limitations, but knows what is needed, and can say just what he means. From the words of the law of God we may know exactly what we should do, for it is a perfect form. But it is only in Christ that we find the living substance. The law in Christ is not only living, but it gives life. It performs itself in those who submit to it, because it is God's own life. It is not less than the letter; it is not something different from the letter; but it is simply the living thing which the letter perfectly describes."(4)
Questions:
1. If God's Law is alive, then can it be anything other than a Being, or being? Which Being, or beings?
2. If the Law of God is the "Spirit of Life in Christ," then is God's Law anything other than the Spirit of God in Christ, the spirit of Christ himself, who said "I am the Life?"
3. Again, if the real law of God is the life of God in Christ, then is it correct to say that the Law of God is Christ, who said of himself, "I am the Life?"
4. What, or Who, is the living Thing which the letter of God's Law perfectly describes?
Answer: JESUS CHRIST!
"For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death." Romans 8.2
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